Videos: Lutricia McNeal

Ain't That Just The Way

Lutricia McNeal (born November 27, 1973, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American R&B/pop singer. She achieved worldwide success with her singles "Ain't That Just the Way" (UK: #6, Germany: #5, Sweden: #1) which sold two million copies worldwide, "Stranded" (UK: #3, Sweden: #6) and "Someone Loves You Honey" (UK: #9)

McNeal is the seventh of nine children. Her father was a preacher and she used to sing regularly in the local church choir. Discovered by Rogers/Grantham, her career took off during a visit to Europe, when she teamed up with the Swedish producer team Rob'n'Raz. Together they scored three Top 20 hits and one #1 hit in Sweden, namely "Clubhopping" (Sweden: #13), "Bite the Beat" (Sweden: #14) and "In Command" (Sweden: #1).

A few years later she started her own solo career with the #1 single "Ain't That Just The Way," which made her famous worldwide. It was a Top 10 chart hit in every European country and cracked the Asian market and became a #1 hit on US Billboard Dance Charts. The single went gold and platinum in several countries.

A couple of more hit singles followed from the debut album My Side of Town. The biggest airplay hits from this album were "Stranded" (#1 airplay hit in the UK) and "Someone Loves You Honey." While McNeal enjoys regular success in Sweden, Scandinavia and Austria, she also scored big hits in other countries. Her single "My Side of Town", for example, went platinum and was a #1 hit in New Zealand. She managed to have three Top 10 hit singles in the UK.

A second album followed in 1999 entitled Whatcha Been Doing before she took a short break from the music business to give birth to her second son.

She is the mother of two boys: Dean (born 1990) and Dallas (born 2000). She lived with her husband and manager in Texas, U.S. and spent a lot of time in Europe to be available for tours, promotion and concerts. In 2006, she moved to Stockholm, Sweden to produce some songs like "Hold That Moment," "Same Same Same," but Same Same Same was never officially released. Then, in 2009 she moved away from Sweden, to Germany and produced her commercial hit for Cambell Soup, "You Make Me Feel Good" and due to her husband's job they moved back to America, to New York in 2011, October. Since the late 90's she has released several albums, which were particularly successful in Sweden, Germany and Japan. In October 2004 she posed for the German version of Playboy. She expressed her disapproval for George W. Bush and his policies (especially regarding the Iraq War) clearly in interviews and is involved in women's rights. Her most recent success were the singles "It's Not Easy" (in September 2005), which was released in Sweden only and reached #3 on the Single Charts, and "Best Of Times" (in February 2006) which reached No 6 on the Swedish Single Charts..
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums

1997 My Side of Town
1999 Whatcha Been Doing
2002 Metroplex
2004 Soulsister Ambassador

[edit] Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds) Album
UK
[1]
SWE
GER
AUT
NOR
FIN
SWI
NZ
1997 "Ain't That Just The Way" 6 1 5 2 — 15 3 2

UK: Silver

My Side of Town
" My Side of Town" — 30 73 — — — — 1

NZ: Platinum

"Washington" — — — — — — — —
1998 "Stranded" 3 6 33 4 4 — 14 3

NZ: Platinum
UK: Silver

"Someone Loves You Honey" 9 26 51 13 17 — — 30
" The Greatest Love You'll Never Know" / "When A Child Is Born" 17 36 — — — — — —
1999 "365 Days" 18 58 26 14 — 31 39 Whatcha Been Doing
2000 "Fly Away" 14 84 — — 7 61
" Sodapop" 54 — — — — — Non-album song
2002 "Perfect Love" 8 41 22 13 20 93 Metroplex
" You Showed Me" — — — —
2003 "Power Of Music" — — — —
" Wrong Or Right" — 50 —
2004 "Promise Me" 86 — — Soulsister Ambassador
2005 "It's Not Easy" 3 Non-album song
" Best Of Times" 6 Non-album song
2007 "Hold That Moment" — — — Non-album song
2011 "You Make Me Feel Good" Non-album song